The North American Folk Music

Mavis Staples, Tommy Jarrell And Rounder Records To Be Honored With Lifetime Achievement

The North American Folk Music and Dance Alliance (Folk Alliance) announces gospel/soul vocalist Mavis Staples, old-time fiddler/banjo player, Tommy Jarrell, and Rounder Records as recipients of the 2008 Elaine Weissman Lifetime Achievement Awards (LAAwards). The presentation will be made during the Folk Awards Show on Wednesday, February 20, 2008 at the Cook Convention Center which is open to the public. Janet Reno and Eliza Gilkyson will open the Business Conference on Thursday, February 21. For information call (901) 522-1170 or go to www.folk.org.

Named for the Folk Alliance's co-founder the late Elaine Weissman of the California Traditional Music Society, these awards are given to those who have inspired us, achieved definitive leadership in their field, and have contributed to the advancement of folk music and/or dance. Each year the LAAwards honor two performers, one living and one legacy, and a person or institution involved in the business or academic side of the folk world, who have devoted their life's work and talent to the advancement of the performing folk arts.

Living Artist Lifetime Achievement Award: Mavis Staples

Born in 1940 in Chicago, Mavis Staples has been lead singer for the Staple Singers always. Staples has a rich contralto voice whose power comes from a masterful command of phrasing and a deep- seated sensuality. Mavis' father, Pops Staples, presented two of his daughters, Cleotha and Mavis, and his son, Pervis, in front of a church audience, and the Staple Singers were born. The Staples recorded in an older, slightly archaic, deeply Southern spiritual style first with Pops and Mavis Staples sharing lead vocals underpinned by Pops' heavily reverbed Mississippi cotton-patch guitar. In 1968 the Staples signed with Memphis-based Stax. From the first two albums, "Soul Folk in Action" and "We'll Get Over" The Staples were singing entirely contemporary message songs such as "Long Walk to D.C." and "When Will We Be Paid." Starting with "Heavy Makes You Happy (Sha-Na-Boom Boom)" and "I'll Take You There," The Staples counted 12 chart hits at Stax.

Legacy Artist Lifetime Achievement Award: Tommy Jarrell (1901 -1985)

The old timey sounds of the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina were preserved through the recordings of fiddler, banjo player and vocalist Tommy Jarrell. His nine albums of traditional banjo and fiddle tunes serve as a reminder of an influential old timey sound. One of ten children, Jarrell inherited his love of music from his father, Ben Jarrell. Jarrell bought his first fiddle, at the age of eight, with money he made gambling. Learning most of his repertoire by 1925, Jarrell performed at unpaid, informal, house parties and contests. Jarrell was little known outside the local area, however, until the mid-1960s when his son, B.F., a disc jockey in North Carolina encouraged Alan Jabbour, then a member of the Hollow String String Band and later the director of the Library of Congress' American Folklife Division, to visit the Jarrell home and record his father. Word of Jarrell's authentic playing soon spread as he was visited by numerous urban traditional music enthusiasts. By the late-1960s, Jarrell was performing at folk festivals and concerts in the west and midwest. In 1982, Jarrell was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for The Arts. In addition to his albums, Jarrell was featured in several documentaries including, "Sprout Wings & Fly," "My Old Fiddle," and "Legends Of Old Timey Music."

Business/Industry Lifetime Achievement Award: Rounder Records

In 1970, with only their passionate enthusiasm for American roots music lighting the way, three Cambridge, Massachusetts college students cast their lot into the perilous music industry, Ken Irwin, Bill Nowlin, Marian Leighton-Levy. From humble beginnings over thirty years ago to what is now America's premier independent record label. from its early interest in rural American music (via fiddle, stringband, blues, and bluegrass recordings) to an expansive catalogue of more than 3,000 titles running the gamut from folk to world, soul to socas, jazz to juju, Cajun to Celtic, and beyond, Rounder has emerged as the preeminent source for vital, uncompromised music of all genres.

The Elaine Weissman Lifetime Achievement Awards are a highlight of the Folk Alliance's annual conference. "We are delighted to announce this year's stellar recipients," says Folk Alliance Executive Director Louis Jay Meyers. "On behalf of the board and the membership, it will be a great pleasure to make these presentations at our Memphis conference in February."

Janet Reno, former Attorney General of the Unites States, and singer-songwriter, multi- award winner Eliza Gilkyson will open the international business conference Thursday morning. Founded in 1989 the Folk Alliance seeks to create new and better opportunities for all those involved in the performance folk arts. With thousands of attendees annually, their conference offers a complete view of the business world of traditional and contemporary folk music and dance through showcases, educational seminars, films, and a networking-rich trade show.

In addition to producing the annual international conference, the Folk Alliance provides year-round services including arts advocacy for the field on a regional and international basis, an online music business directory, newsletters, classes, workshops, and regional events.